Guest guest Posted March 26, 2003 Report Share Posted March 26, 2003 The practice of tantric Mantras by Octavian Sarbatoare Introduction In Sanskrit language 'Mantra' means 'liberation of the mind' referring to the techniques employed, known as Mantra Yoga. Mantra Yoga is according to the yoga tradition a valid way to obtain liberation (Moksha) (see Note 1). A widely accepted classification is to be of five kinds viz. Pinda, Kartari, Bija, Mantra and Mala. This classification takes into account the number of syllables, thus for the Bija Mantra there are three to nine syllables. Basically the tantric Mantras are Bija Mantras with some rare exceptions when the number of syllables could be more or less than the usual range. This article is mainly about Bija Mantras. 'Bija' means 'seed; germ; semen; source; origin; primary cause; truth as the cause of being; basis for the mind'. A Bija Mantra is formed by a combination of the sounds of the Sanskrit alphabet, which contains 50 sounds. As tradition suggests, all these sounds are sacred sounds, therefore they have powers. There is a very elaborated concept behind this, the present article will try to simplify things and go to the main ideas and practices regarding the tantric Mantras. Many times in the specific literature, Tantra Yoga is called Mantra Yoga, this is to acknowledge that Mantra Yoga is a central part of Tantra Yoga. The practice is used in India at the popular level, in villages and day to day life. Higher practices of Mantras are however, restricted to a few people who have access to old documents and who according to the tradition have evolved to be able to use Mantra Yoga in a creative way. Certain Guru-s do also initiate in Mantra Yoga of higher level, almost any initiation do contain a Mantra initiation. In the Shaiva tradition of India, the usual Mantra is Om Namah Shivaya, other traditions like the vedic one use Gayatri, the most sacred vedic Mantra of twenty-four syllables arranged as a triplet of eight syllables each. What is said about the tantric Mantras is that they produce results rapidly. The effects are almost instantaneous, therefore a great deal is paid to keep them secret to a certain degree. It was Arthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe) who started for the western culture, a systematic study of Tantra, because of his experiences with Mantras while he was a judge in Calcutta. He was so astonished by the effects of Mantras on him, that he later became a great scholar and made remarkable services to humanity by preserving manuscripts and doing unique translations (with the help of some Brahmins). What is actually the idea behind practices with Mantras? Mantra as meditation technique The practice of Mantra Yoga leads to a state of meditation. The popular cultures see meditation as a kind of state in which the recipient is somehow "lost" in other world (a 'transcendental world'), unable to have a perception of what it is in the world of immediate perception. This is however a simplistic way of seeing meditation. Meditation (Dhyana) comes from the Sanskrit root 'dhyai' which means 'to imagine, to contemplate'. The most important things to know about meditation is that it is an active state, the awareness as unbroken state of flow of thoughts, a process of expansion of consciousness in which time (represented by Shiva) is united with space (represented by Shakti). The state obtained by meditation is called Pratyakshatva (Pratyaksatva) a state of conscious continuous perception. Although the conscious perception can be focused on many things, the fundamental idea behind meditation and Mantras is that they produce an active state of perception, an awareness call 'transcendental' only as far as does transcend the ordinary perception, but has nothing to do with transcending any world. It is in short a refined way of experiencing our world. The concept behind the sacred sounds We cannot elaborate about the sacred sounds without bringing the deity (Deva or Devata) concept into the attention. It is in this idea that Mantra practices have developed over many centuries, from the dawn of humankind. A deity, as is understood in the Indian tradition, is a manifestation or function of the Universal Consciousness (known as Cit). The fundamental idea about deities is that they manifest both externally and internally as far as the human body is concerned. As such, they become accessible through cognition and experience, they are seen as sentient to a certain degree. It is on these lines where Mantras do make a connection between a practitioner and a certain deity. Mantra is thus a sacred formula as a subtle form of a deity as sound or vibration, an expression of that part of consciousness represented by the deity. The range of Mantras is extremely wide since the range of those manifestations is wide, extending from the world of humans to the world of Brahman, the Supreme Consciousness. It follows nevertheless that according to this concept there are no limits in accessing anything in the world of manifestations of Brahman. This is indeed astonishing. Mantra provides thus, with the right tool to access the manifestations of Gods, and know the principles behind, in order to increase own freedom. Deities and their Mantras Deities have certain functions to perform. By practicing with a Mantra for a specific deity, a practitioner gets closer and closer to that deity, thus sharing in the good qualities of that deity. To start with, is the elephant-headed god Ganesha. Mantra related to Ganesha is Gam (or Gang). By practicing with this Mantra a Sadhaka (practitioner) overcomes the obstacles in life, as overcoming obstacles is one of the main functions of god Ganesha. Similarly Saraswati represents learning, arts, artistic sensibility. Below is a table to show deities and their Mantras: ----------------- ------------------------------ Deity .......................................Mantra ......................Comments (Function) (Name) Ganesha (D) ......................Gam (Gang) ..................Protection, success Kali (D) ..............................Krim (Kring) .................Protection, liberation, victory Krishna (D) ........................Klim (Kling) ..................Love, attraction, bliss Lakshmi (D) .......................Shrim (Shring) .............Prosperity, wealth, beauty Rama (D) ..........................Rama, Rama, Rama ....Courage, justice, marriage and love Saraswati (D) ...................Aim (Aing) ....................Arts, sensibility, music, knowledge Shakti (D) ..........................Hrim (Hring) ...............Good qualities, energy, family values Shiva (D) ................Hum, Om Namah Shivaya .....Protection, liberation, awareness ----------------- ------------------------------ The above table lists only a few Mantras, the most famous, known for great effects in specific areas. There are many combinations leading to more specific results (Note 2). Out of all, the most celebrated is Mantra Om (Ong), the sound going towards absorption, i.e. going back to the source of manifestation (Bindu). However, the supreme Mantra, the most secret, is known as Panchadashakshari, or the Mantra having 15 syllables. It is forbidden to be revealed, only in special circumstances a high profile spiritual master can initiate somebody in this Mantra. It is said that by practicing with this Mantra liberation is at hand and anything can be achieved. Precautions and effects An aspirant to the practice of Mantra Yoga with Bija Mantras has to be warned that Mantras are not to play with. The consequences of a practice can have a great impact in somebody's life and people around that person. As I have seen so far from literature and own experience, there are big changes in somebody's life by practicing with Bija Mantras. There is a great temptation to experiment and try the effects of Bija Mantras, but the practice has to be done with caution. Firstly, Mantras do induce a certain state of consciousness, we might even say a certain state of sub-consciousness we are not aware about. Consequently, there are result of surprises and wonders. Consciousness is thus enhanced towards a certain direction, the practitioner is 'carried away' by the vibration. However, this might sound unrealistic unless we try and experience the new consciousness induced by Mantra practice. The practice Mantra practice goes in spiral bringing the mind closer and closer to the source of the sound, thus creating a link between the practitioner and that deity, principle or function. In a quite place, a practitioner sits comfortable and starts to pronounce that Mantra approx. with the same speed as the ordinary speech or less. During Mantra practice many ideas invade the mind, they should be left to manifest but the pronunciation of Mantra has to continue all the time. Those invading ideas come in front in order to be eliminated. They are usually negative ideas, experiences and worries the practitioner has. The practice is done twice a day at approx. the same hour for about 20 to 30 minutes each. The end of practice is by gently coming out after stopping the Mantra pronunciation, open an eye, then move a finger. In short the transition to the external world is made gently. Mantra is best practiced in conjunction with Asanas and (or) Pranayama, but this is not strictly necessary as Mantra Yoga has value on its own. Transcendental Meditation technique is a typical Mantra Yoga technique. Final words >From time to time a Mantra may be changed, in so giving the practitioner a new direction. This practice can be use creatively in many ways. If somebody wants for a specific period of time to become sensible, write poems, music, the right Mantra is the one for Saraswati. If love is the desire, the Mantra is the one for Krishna, for family values Rama Mantra is used as Rama is the epitome of success in marriage. If there are problems and obstacles in life, the Ganesha Mantra is the one to be used. There is no harm in practicing with Mantras unless somebody tries to take advantage of other people in order to dominate, or use in negative actions, etc. Otherwise for anything positive in making own life full of joy and happiness the practice with Bija Mantras is very beneficial. This work is a brief of main ideas regarding the Mantra practice. It will be enough for somebody to start an investigation or even a practice. There are many interesting books on this subject. The practice will be enough to convince somebody of this unusual method of acquiring enhanced states of consciousness with a clear and creative direction. I will conclude the work with the Mantra "Om Tat Sat". Notes 1. See "Siva Samhita" V, 10. A Mantra Yoga practitioner can obtain success after 12 years of practice. 2. See "The Tantra of the Great Liberation" (i.e. "Mahanirvana Tantra") by Arthur Avalon. 2000 by Octavian Sarbatoare This article is copyright-protected. The author grants the right to copy and distribute this file, provided it remains unmodified and original authorship and copyright is retained. About the author Other works by the same author: Aphorisms, Kali Yuga, Kama and Karma. {HOME} Web address: http://www.geocities.com/awareness88/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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